Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) · 4 of 225 · tr. Nicholas Bessaraboff and Claude Bragdon
Chapter I (part 3)
Positivism as the study of the phenomenal side of life.
Of what does the "two-dimensionality" of positive philosophy consist?
The regarding of everything upon a single plane, in one physical sequence.
The streams which flow underneath the earth.
What can the study of life, as a phenomenon, yield?
The artificial world which science erects for itself.
The unreality of finished and isolated phenomena.
The new apprehension of the world 143 CHAPTER XIV The voices of stones.
The wall of a church and the wall of a prison.
The mast of a ship and a gallows.
The shadow of a hangman and of an ascetic.
The soul of a hangman and of an ascetic.
The different combinations of known phenomena in higher space.
The relationship of phenomena which appear unrelated, and the difference between phenomena which appear similar.
How shall we approach the noumenal world?
The understanding of things outside the categories of space and time.
The reality of many "figures of speech." The occult understanding of energy.
The letter of a Hindu occultist.
Art as the knowledge of the noumenal world.
What we see and what we do not see.
Plato's dialogue about the cavern 156 p.
x Occultism and love.
Love and death.
Our different relations to the problems of death and to the problems of love.
What is lacking in our understanding of love?
Love as an every-day and merely psychological phenomena.
The possibility of a spiritual understanding of love.
The creative force of love.
The negation of love.
Love and mysticism.
The "wondrous" in love.
Nietzsche, Edward Carpenter and Schopenhauer on love.
"The Ocean of Sex." 166 CHAPTER XVI The phenomenal and noumenal side of man.
"Man-in-himself." How do we know the inner side of man?
Can we know of the existence of consciousness in conditions of space not analogous to ours?
Brain and consciousness.
Unity of the world.
Logical impossibility of the simultaneous existence of spirit and matter.
Either all spirit or all matter.
Rational and irrational actions in nature and in the life of man.
Can rational actions exist alongside irrational?
The world as an accidentally self-created mechanical toy.
The impossibility of reason in a mechanical universe.
The irreconcilability of mechanicalness with the existence of reason.
Kant concerning "hosts." Spinoza on the knowledge of the invisible world.
Necessity for the intellectual definition of that which can be, and that which cannot be, in the world of hidden.
176 CHAPTER XVII A living and rational universe.
Different forms and lines of rationality.
Animated nature.
The souls of stones and the souls of trees.
The soul of a forest.
The human "I" as a collective rationality.
Man as a complex being.
"Humanity" as a being.
The world's soul.
The face of Mahadeva .
Prof.
James on the consciousness of the universe.
Fechner's ideas.
Zendavesta .
A living Earth.
198 CHAPTER XVIII Rationality and life.
Life as knowledge.
Intellect and emotions.
Emotion as an organ of knowledge.
The evolution of emotion from the standpoint of knowledge.
Pure and impure emotions.
Personal and impersonal emotions.
Personal and super-personal emotions.
The elimination of self-elements as a means of approach to true knowledge.
"Be as little children.
.
.
" "Blessed are the pure in heart.
.
.
." The value of morals from the standpoint of knowledge.
The defects of intellectualism.
Dreadnaughts as the crown of intellectual culture.
The dangers of morality.
Moral esthetics.
Religion and art as organized forms of emotional knowledge.
The knowledge of God and the knowledge of Beauty.
213 CHAPTER XIX The intellectual method, objective knowledge.
The limits of objective knowledge.
The possibility of the expansion of the application of the psychological method.
Themes
◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
[auto] The passage defines art and emotion as organs of knowledge for the noumenal world, emphasizing direct apprehension over positivism.
All passages →◇Mechanical Humanityanthropology
Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's claim that ordinary human beings live in a state of waking sleep, reacting mechanically without unified will or consciousness, and that the spiritual path begins with recognising this condition.
[auto] The passage critiques the 'mechanical universe' and discusses the impossibility of reason within it, central to Ouspensky's teaching on human mechanicalness.
All passages →◇Unity Of Beingtheology
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
[auto] The text explicitly states 'Unity of the world' and argues for 'Either all spirit or all matter', positing a fundamental oneness.
All passages →Related passages · 8 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 7, Section 1b
“(2) Wisdom as a whole = Wisdom embodied in the universe as a whole.
(3) Wisdom in each individual instance = Wisdom as shown in the structure of some particular plant or animal, or part of a plant or animal.
(1) Is an Emanation; (2) and (…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds, emphasizing the limitations of purely materialistic or rationalistic understandings and advocating for a deeper, more intuitive or spiritual comprehension of reality. They both discuss the nature of wisdom and knowledge, highlighting the importance of transcending ordinary perception to grasp higher truths.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 5)
“The will beholding itself in the mirror of wisdom causes its own image to appear within the groundlessness, and thus it creates a foundation in its own imagination." ( Menschwerdung , ii.
1.) "Wisdom, the eternal virgin, the playmate of Go…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds, and the nature of reality beyond mere physical existence. They discuss the limitations of conventional understanding and the need for a deeper, more spiritual or mystical comprehension of the universe.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 4 (part 1)
“p.
89 CHAPTER IV.
CREATION.
Everything we see in nature is manifested truth; only we are not able to recognise it as such, unless the truth is manifest within ourselves.
God is the supreme, fundamental, universal, self-existent eternal…”
Both passages explore the distinction between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds, and the limitations of human perception and understanding. They also discuss the nature of reality and the relationship between the divine and the material world, though from different mystical traditions.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 4)
“28.) "In Paradise the substance of the divine world penetrated the substance belonging to time, comparable to the power of the sun penetrating a fruit growing on a tree, and endowing it with such qualities as render it lovely to the sight a…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds, discussing the limitations of empirical understanding and the deeper, spiritual realities that underlie surface appearances. They also touch on the nature of human consciousness and its connection to a higher, divine reality.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 12 (part 10)
“Every object or person we see in the world is nothing but a symbol of existing ideas; every event taking place in external life is the outcome of invisibly acting forces.
The historical correctness of the occurrences described in the Bible…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds, emphasizing the importance of understanding deeper, often hidden realities. They also discuss the role of love and spiritual understanding in accessing these higher truths.
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 12 (part 9)
“Honour a figure and a step before a figure and a tribolus.
Explanation .--The exhortation of this Symbol is as follows: Philosophize and diligently betake yourself to disciplines, and through these, as through steps, proceed to the thing p…”
Both passages explore the distinction between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds, emphasizing the limitations of purely rational or sensory understanding and advocating for a deeper, more spiritual or philosophical comprehension. They both highlight the importance of intellectual and emotional purity in achieving true knowledge.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|INTRODUCTIONi
“The life of man is more than an experience or trial; it is an effort, a struggle to reproduce and represent upon earth some of that goodness, beauty, and truth which are diffused over the universe and constitute its harmony.
Long, slow, an…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds, emphasizing the limitations of purely materialistic or positive philosophies. They also discuss the deeper, spiritual aspects of existence and the importance of understanding beyond the physical realm.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|Second Dialoguee
“Now, it must be said that the outcome of the mind is that alone which is always by it desired, sought for, and embraced, and that which is more enjoyed than anything else, with which it is filled, comforted and becomes better,—that is Truth…”
Both passages explore the distinction between the phenomenal and noumenal worlds, emphasizing the limitations of empirical study and the need to transcend corporeal reasoning to grasp higher truths. They both advocate for a deeper, more spiritual understanding of reality.